Gone to the Animals
by ewolfbalto
Summary: A new zoologist comes to the Enterprise and quickly becomes an essential part of the crew. Reviews both negative and positive are encouraged! :D


Episode 1: Welcome to the Enterprise

A short and somewhat petite young woman stood in the transporter room. She stood on the platform, holding several bags and crates that contained her only possessions. Her auburn hair was in a half-ponytail, with the hair that was near the hairline and the crown of her hair pulled back, while the hair under the tied up hair was let loose down her back. She wore very little make-up on her face, as she never had the time to cake it on her face like her friends.

She heard a whimper from her bag and readjusted it so that the whimper couldn't be heard. "Energize," she said quickly. Her vision blurred as white sparks formed around her, and she was soon transported to the _Enterprise_.

When her vision cleared, she could see that she was in a transporter room not unlike the one on Starbase 43. She looked around and saw a bald man waiting for her. "Welcome to the _USS Enterprise_ Lieutenant Emily Long," he said, holding out a hand, "I'm Captain Jean-Luc Piccard." She held out her hand and then the creature that made the whimpering leaped out of the bag and revealed itself to be a little dog.

Long scooped up the little dog and in the process ended up dropping the rest of her bags, which resulted in a lot of screeching from what sounded like birds.

"Lieutenant, what is the meaning of this?"

"My apologies sir, but what can you expect from a zoologist?" She said, holding the dog, the transporter engineer picked up the screeching crates. "I do have a lot of animals. They are mostly small animals, but they are animals!"

He smiled, but soon became serious. "They must not interfere with your work."

"Absolutely sir!" She said and then quickly went by him, embarrassed. The transporter engineer walked alongside her as she walked to her quarters. Once they were out of earshot of the captain, she turned to him and asked, "Is he always so damn stuffy?"

"Not always, once you get to know him he's very gentle. You also got off on the wrong foot with the birds and that dog of yours."

"My dog does have a name, you know!" She said. There were many pairs of eyes following her as she walked through the hallways, they normally didn't see a woman carrying a dog before, especially not this one.

They reached her new quarters and the transporter engineer set down the crates. "These ok here?" He asked, the little dog bounded up to him and began licking his face. "Hey, hey buddy!" He giggled and laughed as the dog licking every possible inch of skin available to him. "You have quite a friendly dog here! What's his name?"

"Dash, or Dashie!" She knelt and called out to the little dog. "He's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and he's practically inseparable from me!" The little dog bounded up into her lap and began licking her face. "Oh Dashie stop! You thought you were never going to see anyone ever again once you went into the bag weren't you!" She ruffled up his black ears.

"He's a cutie! Well, I'd best be getting back to my post. I'm Ensign Robert Kenny, ma'am."

"Pleasure to meet you Robert!" She smiled as he left and stood up to take a look around her new quarters. It was not as big as she would've hoped, but it was sufficient. It was long however, with a door that led to the bathroom area, but it contained all that she would wanted. A table and computer to do some work, an area to relax, and bed to sleep and also relax. There was also enough room for her to set up all of her animals. She knelt at her crates and began to open them. She pulled out a cage, which contained two very colorful birds. She set the cage on the table and then opened the hatch, letting them fly out and around the quarters. She pulled out a glass cage, which contained a black as night snake; she pulled him out as well and began to exam him. The birds were lively enough, which proved that they were healthy, but she was worried about the snake.

"How you doing buddy," she said to it, and examined his eyes. When she was satisfied that he was healthy he placed him back into his glass cage.

She then took out some other cages that were empty. She only took a couple animals with her this time, as she was hoping to collect more on the journeys a head of her. But she always took the birds, the dog, and the snake, regardless of where she was stationed. Once she was sure that all of her animals would be comfortable, she set out to explore the ship, as there were several hours before

Dashie of course followed her everywhere, plodding along at her heels. As she passed by the other crewmembers, they would all look at her and stare. "Who is she?" They said, "Who is that dog?" "Why does she even have a dog roaming freely on the ship?" "Aren't dogs limited to the family quarters?" She overheard some of them, but kept on walking. Dashie followed behind her.

She stopped at one point and knelt down and gently scratched Dashie. "How about we go and explore one of the holodecks! I hear they are fun!" Dashie bounded around her legs and started to bark, causing several crewmembers to stare at the pair, again. She picked up the little dog and walked down the hall, carrying him until they reached a turbolift.

"Holodeck 1." She said and placed the dog on the ground once the doors closed. She reached down and scratched Dashie's long hanging ears. "Who's a good dog? Hmm! Who's a good dog?" He barked playfully and spun around, his tail moving like a fan.

"Holodeck 1," chirped the computer and she picked up the little dog and carried him into the hallway, where she came to Holodeck 1. She walked through the doors without even taking a look at the computer.

"I've never used one of these things Dashie, but I'm sure we'll be okay. Can't do much harm with a hologram right!" She said as the walked through the doors. She walked into a café, was it a café? It looked a lot like a café from Earth. She remembered Earth; it was a long, long ways from here though.

It was café that seemed to be in Paris, but it wasn't one of those pretty cute little cafés that you would see in the movies. It was an indoor one, and you could see the clean street from the inside. There were several people inside the café at tables, sipping coffee and eating buttery croissants and scones. There was a stage in the corner of a café, where small jazz band played. It only consisted of four musicians: a drummer, a bassist, a pianist, and a trumpeter. She heard one bar of the music that they played and knew it was the kind of music that she liked, jazz, and the sultry music that seduced her. She closed her eyes and smiled as the music flowed into her ears.

She didn't even notice that there was a real person in the room, not a hologram. "Oh hello!"

She awoke from her reverie and noticed that a man was standing up at a table not too far from where she stood. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this was occupied. I don't know really know how to use these things."

"That's no worry!" He pulled open a seat, "I could use some company." He then noticed the little dog and smiled, "Your pet?"

"Yes, how could I be so rude!" She sat down at the chair, the man already had coffee and a scone it looked like. "This is my dog, Dashie!" She held out the dog's paw to be shaken.

"Why hello Dashie! I'm Will!" The man said and chuckled. "He doesn't introduce himself really well!"

"You haven't given him a chance yet!" She let the dog go and bounded over the table, spilling the coffee. He leapt into the man's lap and began to lick his face, causing him to giggle and laugh.

"Hey there buddy!" He managed to get the little dog settled down. "Well, I guess that's his way of saying, nice to meet ya!"

"That is! Does it to every single person he meets!" A waiter came to the table and asked if she wanted anything to drink or eat. She ordered some tea and then once the waiter had left she called out to the little dog, who once again bounded over the table and knocked the sugar basin over. "Oh little rascal!" She ruffled up his ears. "You are just impossible!"

The man laughed and she looked up at him, finally she was able to study his face. He was handsome to be sure, but that was a generic statement. He had clear blue eyes that were strange for his other dark features, as his eyebrows and hair were of a dark brown color. His face was not clean-shaven like most of the men she had known in Starfleet, as he had a close trimmed beard and mustache. But she did think him handsome.

"I'm Will Riker," he said, offering his hand over the table. He could also get a good look at her. She was pretty, but not the beauty that one would suspect. She had light auburn hair, and gray eyes, and her face looked feminine but by the lack of make-up on her face, or at least that he could see, he figured that she was not as feminine as one would have previously thought.

"Emily Long," they shook hands, he was surprised by the firm grip of her hand, this was a strong woman, and she was not the usual force to be reckoned with. "And now I bet like everyone else you're wondering why I have a little dog with me?"

"Yes, Piccard doesn't usually let animals roam out of their owner's quarters. You aren't the new zoologist are you?"

"The woman herself! I will mention that I have two Edoian love birds and a Zephyrian Snake on board, as well as this little Earth dog!"

"So I can deduce that you've been to Earth, obviously, and the planets Zephyr and Edo, at least!"

"Why is my interplanetary travel such an interesting subject to you?"

"Because I can at least find a little bit about who you are. You like jazz?" He said, motioning over to the jazz band.

"Yes! It's a lot better than the more recent music. All of that digital stuff just drives me nuts! It's all auto-tuned and does not sound what music should sound like!"

"And the lyrics, they're always about the same thing, traveling the galaxy to find their one lost true love!"

"There has been worse music though, I remember from my music history class at the Academy that in the early 21st century there was a surge in artists, although I feel silly calling them artists that had no talent and were auto-tuned, and yet they made millions and one boy who seemed to never grow out of puberty was chased by a bunch of crazed girls." She shook her head, "why my own gender would fall for such immaturity I do not know!"

"You seem like my kind of person Long, or shall I call you Emily?"

"Whatever works for you. I can see that you are higher than my rank." She pointed to the buttons at the neck of his uniform, indicating that he was a Commander. "I'm guessing you're the first officer?"

"You guessed rightly. Although, I do like talking to you without the whole rank rules thing. I haven't really talked to anyone like this in a long time, at least not a stranger," he said in a remorseful tone. "You may have heard but our ship's counselor was lost in a shuttle accident." The waiter brought over a fresh coffee and a tea set, along with some crumpets.

"I heard, a new counselor was coming shortly behind me as well. She was supposed to come up along with me, but she had some business to deal with. She's probably up here by now," She said. "Counselor Troi, was it? I've heard a lot about her, I heard she was very good at her work. A friend of mine from Betazoid went to school with her and always spoke highly of her." She poured her tea into the cup. "It's a shame that such a great mind is lost."

"Yes, she was also a close friend of mine. It's always hard to lose a close friend."

Emily nodded. "Yea, although all of my close friends that I've lost have been animals, but still, there is still a feeling of emptiness and loneliness when they are lost too." She scratched Dash's ear, "He's actually my second King Charles! They're such loveable dogs!" She smiled and the little dog licked her cheek.

Will nodded. "Have you met the new counselor?"

"Unfortunately!" She shook her head. "She's from Betazoid, but she likes to invade in people's private lives. When I met her, all that she said was, 'Ah, you're still heartbroken from the man who left you five years ago for a more rich Earth girl!'"

"Sounds like that will be fun! I've got enough secrets about me that will keep her reeling forever!"

"Oh good lord! You are a character! And I've just met you! And you're my superior!" They chuckled.

"I'm going to really like you, Em! Would you mind if I called you Em? Just sounds a little bit more sweet and to the point. Emily is a good name too, not to give you any offense!"

"Not at all! My family all calls me Em! It'd be nice to hear someone call me that again!"

"Haven't seen you're family for a while?"

"Well, I haven't seen my parents since I went to the Academy and I've seen my brother occasionally. He and I went to the Academy at the same time and our first station was with each other. We've kept in touch more than I have with my parents."

"I haven't seen my father in almost 15 years. So I know the feeling!"

"But did you wish to see him, or did you just leave and never come back?"

"Leave and never came back! My dad and I aren't on such good terms."

"That happens."

"Number One, report to the bridge, we are about to disembark, Counselor Meidici is on board." Piccard's voice echoed through the jazz café.

"Back to work!" Will said, shaking his head. "Computer, save file, exit." And he stood up. "Why don't you come onto the bridge? I don't know how Piccard will deal with Dash though."

"Maybe I should introduce him slowly to my animals. If you don't mind a moment, I can bring a more quieter and unnoticeable animal."

"As you wish!" They left the holodeck and walked down the halls, Dash following behind them. Again people were staring at the little dog. They went into the turbolift and went to the deck that contained Emily's quarters. She left Will outside of her quarters and returned, although she looked like she was empty handed. Once they got into the turbolift, then Will was able to determine what animal she was bringing.

"What is around your neck?"

"This is Simon, My Zephyrian Water Snake! Even though I was born on Earth I was raised in a small Zephyr V colony. I bring four animals regardless of wherever I go, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from England, as that's where I was born, a Zephyr Water Snake from Zephyr, as I'm from there, and the Edoian Lovebirds, because they are so pretty!"

"Well Piccard will love this!" The turbolift doors opened and they were on the main bridge. It was a circular room with two levels it seemed like, a lower level where the captain, his chief officers, and the navigational crew sat, and an upper level where there were computer controls for the different systems.

The bridge was slightly crowded, with many officers on board. Will led her to the center, where Captain Piccard stood introducing his officers to the newcomer. He turned once he noticed that Will was there, "Ah Will, I see you've met our newest zoologist! Welcome to the bridge Lieutenant Long, this is my Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher, my Chief Engineer Geordi-"

"LaForge, how are you old friend?"

"Good as always! How's life treating you, Emily? And how's Mike? I haven't seen him in ages!"

"Great! He's over on the _Defiant_." They embraced. "My apologies Captain, Geordi and I went to the Academy at the same time."

"Well then that is spectacular! But there are others that you must meet, this Commander Data, my second officer, and Lieutenant Worf, my Security Chief," he pointed out the Klingon, Emily had known of Klingons and had heard of a Klingon in Starfleet, but was unafraid, she was more curious about him, "and my newest edition, Counselor Tryana Meidici."

"The zoologist and I have already had the pleasure of being acquainted and you must be Commander William Riker!" She said, walking towards him. "You are mourning the death of a friend, but alas, she was also your former lover, what sadness!"

"Pleasure to meet you too Counselor," he turned to Piccard, annoyed, "Well then, we ready to go?"

"Yes Number one! We are ready!"

"Where are headed too next?" Emily asked, she usually did not know where the ship was going, only when she was needed.

"To the planet Illyas, we are to see how our outpost is doing there," Will said, "Set a course Crusher at Warp Factor 5." He then motioned to the chair to the left of where the First Officer's chair was. "Would you like a seat?" He said to Emily.

"Might as well, gotta park my butt somewhere!" She and Will chuckled. Luckily Piccard did not hear the comment.

The ship was soon leaving orbit around the Starbase 43 and was in route toward the planet Illyas. Emily leaned back in her chair, it had a short back, but it was enough to accommodate her. She gently stroked Simon, who was coiled around her neck, still nobody had noticed her, except for Will of course! "So tell me, what is Illyas like?"

"It's a very wet planet. At the equator it is a tropical rainforest, and while it gets colder as the you go in our sense of north and south it turns into more temperate rainforests. There are also oceans there, and the outpost where we will be going is on an island just off of the mainland. I haven't been there, but I hear it is a tropical paradise!"

"We're planning on helping the outpost with some computer and engineering software upgrades, as well as we will be giving our crew a well-needed holiday," Piccard noted. "While you may have had some rest before coming here, Lieutenant, we've been on the job practically non-stop for several months now. We'll be there for approximately two to three weeks."

"I get to work on my tan! Nice!" She chuckled. "What's the wildlife like there?"

"A lot like you would find in a tropical paradise on Earth, lots of fish, turtles, and mammals not unlike our own. As I recall the Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin was introduced there, as their own native dolphin went extinct," Will said. He pinched Emily's arm, "I bet these puny things wouldn't stand a chance in a swim against me!"

"You wanna bet? I was the fastest swimmer in the Zephyr V Colony!" She said, giving him a nudge. "Do you know why the dolphins on Illyas died out?"

"I wouldn't be the one to know. I do know that is due to natural causes though. They were rare when the outpost was set up, but there was a need for more top level predators."

"To many fish perhaps. If it's ok Captain, I would like to venture out and study the wildlife."

"Lieutenant, is that not your job as the ship's zoologist?"

"Yes, I thought it might be polite to ask first."

"You have good manners, but you do not need to ask me to do your job! Do you want anyone to accompany you for your studies?"

"Can I volunteer Will, I mean Commander Riker?" She said smiling.

Piccard smiled at the two of them, "already on a first name basis. I like it! As long as Number One is fine with that."

"I have no objections. ETA Wesley?" Will turned to Emily and smiled.

"Two hours and fifty-five minutes sir."

"Number One if you would like to go back to the Holodeck we are good here," Piccard said, "You out of all of us deserves a rest much more than we do."

"Thank you sir," he stood up, he had definitely been much more stressed over the last couple of weeks, especially with the loss of Deanna Troi. He was about to walk away when he turned to Emily and asked, "Want to join me?"  
She stood up and said, "sure! Hope you don't mind if Simon comes too." She stroked the black snake that was still coiled around her neck, and ironically, no one had noticed him, even when she was stroking him and referring to him, nobody noticed. "I'll bring up the lovebirds next time," she said to herself, "they will definitely be noticed. Or maybe I'll bring up something from Illyas, it sounds like a wonderful planet!"

"Do you often talk to yourself?" Will asked once they got into the turbolift.

"You heard me?" He nodded. "I don't know, probably more often than others, but nobody seems to mind."

"Just don't say anything insinuating! Nobody likes that!" She gave him a playful nudge.

"How is that even though we've just met we're already growing close?"

"I don't know, maybe we have similar personalities or complementing personalities." Will stroked his beard. "And maybe we recognize those personalities in each other and are drawn to it. I don't know specifically. I'm not an expert on thing like that."

"Counselor Meidici would know! Although she would probably reveal any and all of our deepest secrets!"

"You already know mine!"

"Knew if before I even met you! Do you think that my friend who knew her didn't also know that you and her got it on and one point?"

"Well, Meidici also said that out loud when she first saw me, and you also told me what she said about you."

"Jesus Christ, we already know intimate secrets about each other! You know that some jerk left me for a rich girl and I know that you were banging a Betazoid! We should just spill out whatever other intimate details about each other." She shook her head. "I lied to my parents about going over to a friend's place when I actually went animal hunting!"  
Will laughed hysterically. "What!" Emily pouted, "it's not funny! I could've gotten into some serious trouble! My parents always wanted me to stop playing with the animals and start playing with the people!"

He was gasping for air he was laughing so hard. "It's just funny that we are already so close, even though we've just met! I don't think I've gotten this close so quickly to anyone, ever!"

"Me neither, well minus the animals, but those don't count!" The door to the turbolift opened and they entered into the Holodeck, but Emily stood in the arch and grabbed Will's arm. "But in all seriousness, I do hope that at least by being a friend I can help you feel better about Counselor Troi's loss. I know what it's like to lose someone that you love."

"It is good to have someone to laugh with. The people here on this ship are great, but I can't feel that I can really open up to them." They sat down at the table they were at, the jazz band began playing once more. "Deanna was the person who I talked to about what was on my mind, partially because she was the ship's counselor, but also because she was my friend. Sure, we had a history, and yes, there was still love between us, but it was a different kind of love, not the romantic kind that we had before, but the friendship kind."

"I would have liked to have met her, apparently I hear she was very beautiful too."

"Beauty comes in many forms. She was beautiful in her own way. You are beautiful in your own way." He smiled at her.

"Oh stop it! I'm nothing like those 'beauties' that you see round here getting all of the guys!"

"You have a way with animals! They must be attracted to you somehow, whether by beauty or something else."

She stroked Simon gently. "Oh you love me so much! Don't you Simon!" He chuckled.

"You do have a way with those animals."

"It's because I feed them! Well at least Simon and the love birds, Dashie is genetically engineered to love anyone that treats him with kindness." She let the snake down on the table. The snake slithered around the table for a moment, it's black forked tongue scenting the area.

"What does he eat?"

"Well, mostly mice and any other small creature. Other smaller snakes, and sometimes birds. He doesn't eat the love birds though. They're too big and if he tried they would peck him dry!" She stroked him again. The band started playing a more upbeat song, which was very different from the slow relaxing one that had been playing just before. "I feel like dancing, but perhaps that is because of the music." She smiled slyly. "Come on, I've never had the chance to dance in the middle of a café, and now the only witness is you, come on!" She grabbed his hand and then they were whirling around the little holographic café, laughing and giggling.

Almost three hours later, they were on the bridge, Piccard was sitting in his usual chair, cross-legged, Will to his right hand, also as usual. His head was cocked to his right, which was how he always placed his head while he was puzzled or inquisitive. Miedici was sitting to Piccard's left hand, her face hard as stone. They all sat there, puzzled, wondering what to do next or what to make of the information they had received.

It was a transmission from Illyas, telling the _Enterprise_ not to let a landing party down. There was some trouble going on down there, but they would not say what exactly. Miedici could read that there was a lot of tension down the surface, but she could not pinpoint what exactly it was. There had been no reports recently of anything strange going on with the planet and the situation was rather puzzling. And at this point Illyas was not trying to make any contact or accepting contact from the ship, yet Worf was still trying to hail the outpost.

Emily walked into the bridge, she could tell that the situation was tense. She walked around the back of the bridge, by the computer stations and eased herself into the chair next to Will. "What's going on?" She whispered.

"A transmission has been sent by the outpost on Illyas," he whispered back. "They don't want us to come down onto the planet, they want us to leave. We can't figure out why." He then turned to Piccard, "This is our outpost and we need to get down there to figure out what is wrong. Permission to take an away team down there, sir?"

"Permission granted."

"Worf, Data, and…" he paused and looked down at Emily. He stroked his beard for a moment, looking like he was thinking. Would it be considered bad to bring along someone who had just come aboard the ship? Would she also think that he had bad intentions? While she was attractive in her own way, he had never felt like this for someone in this way. But it was romantic or sexual, it was more of sibling love or affection. "…Em, come with me!" He finally said. There was one thing about an bond like this, he felt like he could trust her completely.

She stood up immediately. "I do have a question before we go, sir." He nodded and motioned for her to proceed. "Have there been any reports of any strange occurrences recently, or any large emigrations out of the outpost?"

"Not that we know of. But we'll find out soon enough." They walked into the turbolift. They were in silence for a couple of minutes, both Emily and Will wanted to make a joke, but they were uneasy about it, while Will was used to Worf and Data's lack of humor, he was unsure about whether or not he would make Emily feel uncomfortable. Emily, just didn't know the android's or the Klingon's sense of humor.

She turned around and faced Worf and Data, "So you're an android, and you're a Klingon?" Worf gave her a rather fierce snarl of a face.

"Yes, I am an Android. I'm not a robot like other people may think. Robots are not as advanced as Android. They are not as sophisticated as-"

"That's enough Data, we don't want to bore her just yet," Will said, he smiled at Emily. "He can go on rants at times.

"Rants? I do not think that is the proper word to describe my behavior, rant is to talk in a noisy excited manner, to scold-"

"Thank you Data!" Will shook his head. "You see what I mean!" Emily giggled.

"I doubt he can be as bad you say. I'm sure this behavior can be useful at times, isn't it Data?"

"I'd like to think so. It is the way that I was programmed."

Several minutes later they were beaming down onto the surface of the beautiful planet Illyas. They beamed down at a spot that was near the Southern Shore of the island where the outpost was stationed. Emily looked around and found that it was indeed a tropical paradise. A big blue ocean stretch out in front of her while she stood on a white sandy beach. She could see outlines of fish in the water, as the water was fairly calm and was steadily lapping up against the white sand.

"It's beautiful here! You were right, a tropical paradise!" She said, bringing out her tricorder and having more of an in depth look around. She turned around and could see several buildings that looked like it was a part of the outpost. "I'm guessing that's where we're headed?"

"Yep. Come on." They walked over to the buildings and walked into what looked to be a town. There were terraces in the hillside overlooking the ocean and on those terraces stood tables and benches, all with views of the ocean. This town should have been bustling with people it was not only such a nice day but the town looked like it could hold many people. But the town streets were empty, there was no one to be found.

"Where do you think they've all gone?" Will said, surveying the area. "There's nobody here!"  
"I cannot say Commander," replied Data, he was looking down at his tricorder. "I do pick up life signs in the buildings however. Perhaps we should enter into one and see what they people living here can tell us."

"I suggest that we go into that one," Emily pointed over to the one that looked like it could have been a town hall. "We might find someone who knows more than the others in there." As they walked through the streets, she glanced into the windows, and several times, she found someone looking right back at her. "There are people here, and they know we're here, but they do not want to come out and see us."

They approached the town hall, when they were within a short distance a small, fat man came running out. "Quickly!" he cried, "get in here before it's too late!"

"What could be out here that will cause all of the residents to go inside and for that guy to ask us to go inside immediately?" Emily said, again she looked down at her tricorder. "Will, I'm picking up an unusual life sign, it's closing in fast on us."  
He turned to face her, "from what direction?"

"From behind." At that moment, Will saw what was coming, he had very little time to react, because it came up so quickly. He quickly grabbed Emily by the shoulders and threw the two of them on the ground just with enough time to get out of the way of the barreling black monster. The creature grabbed Worf and the Klingon was soon fighting against great big jaws. Will climbed to his knees and aimed his phaser at the monster, stunning the creature instantly. Emily lay crumbled on the ground, groaning as she tried to regain the wind that had been knocked out of her.

"You alright?"

She nodded. In a few seconds she was crawling slowly to her feet, "What is that thing?" The two of them walked closer to the black hunk of mass. It resembled a bear, only much larger and had large claws and canine teeth. It was still stunned, but people were beginning to walk out of their homes. The fat man came running down the steps.

"Is it dead?"

"No, it is very much alive. We have only stunned it with our phasers." Data said, using his tricorder to learn about the animal.

Emily walked right up the animal and began to stroke it. "Why would such a creature attack humans like this?" She stood up and looked at Will. "Animals don't just randomly attack a human just because. Usually there is a reason, either we have invaded its territory, or we are threatening its young." She stood, looking at the animal, it was slowly coming to and the people who had come out of their homes went right back in. The animal slowly got to its feet and looked around lethargically. It turned slowly and faced the away team, its green eyes scanned the group angrily and growled at them, its large white teeth gnashing at the air. It started walking closer and closer to them. Will stood in front of Emily and took out his phaser.

"Set your phasers to kill," he ordered.

Then Emily noticed something, she could see that one of the residents was carrying a black fuzz ball in their arms. "No, Will don't!" She tackled his arm and knocked his phaser to the ground. "I know why it's attacking it. Don't kill it!"

Will scooped up the phaser and moved Emily to the side, "I don't want you or anyone else to get hurt, this thing nearly killed Worf and now it could kill you and us!"

She realized that talking wasn't going to do it and ran, escaping from Will's grip and reach, she ran right underneath the animals teeth, which just grazed her shoulder. She ran up to the retreating person who held the black fuzz ball and snatched it out of the man's arms. She stroked the frightened little pet and said comforting words as she walked closer to the creature. She walked right up the creature's side and stroked the fierce animal's side, holding the little black creature. The creature turned on her, snarling and growling. She faced the animal face to face. Will screamed, for at that moment he could just see her being torn apart by this monster, and that was the last thing he wanted, he had just met her and was already feeling very attached to her.

"This is what you wanted, isn't darling?" Emily said as she held up the little black fuzz ball. In an instant the creature's expression softened and it stopped snarling and gnashing its teeth. It made a soft purring noise as it took the little black fuzz ball in its powerful jaw. It sat upon its rear and held the little black fuzz ball, cradling it like a mother would cradle her baby. Emily walked back to the away team. "Poor thing was only looking for her baby," was what she tried to say, but she was enveloped by the creature's paw just before she reached them. It held her in a tight grip and began licking her head. Will ran over to her and tried to manually pry her free. Worf and Data just looked on.

"She is in no danger," Data said, "Because I understand what is happening. The creature is a mother and the pet was her young. The creature is realizing what Lieutenant Long did and is now thanking her."

"I do not understand why Commander Riker is so worried about her, since it looks to me that she is in no danger, as you said," Worf commented. He puffed out his chest and looked on.

Data walked closer to the creature, "Commander, Lieutenant Long is in a no danger."

Will did not listen. "She could be crushed by that thing!"  
He could clearly not hear Emily's giggles and laughter as the animal licked her. "Stop it! Your welcome, your welcome!" She cried out loud as the animal showed its affection. "Stop it! STOP IT!" She finally yelled. The animal dropped her and began whining, as it had thought it had done something wrong. Emily brushed herself off and tried to breath normally again. "I think she broke a rib!" She joked. "She won't bother us now. She's got her baby back." The animal's green eyes were now big and sorrowful.

"Do you need to go to sick bay?" Will said, he examined her shoulder. "You've got a nasty cut on your shoulder. I'll beam up with you to sick bay."  
"I'm fine! Let me just talk with these people about these animals. They don't seem like they mean any harm, but you just can't take away their babies though." She said. She looked back at the animal, "Oh don't you give me those eyes!" She rubbed the top of the animal's head, causing it to start pounding its leg happily into the earth. "She's actually quite gentle."

"Alright, make your speech and then we'll go straight up to sick bay! I know I sound like Dr. Crusher, but that thing could give you a nasty infection!" Will said, he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Promise me we'll go?"

"Yes, I promise!" She smiled. She limped out of his grip and began to talk to the gathering crowd of residents who came out to see the animal. One by one more and more people began to approach the massive creature. They found that while she looked fierce, she actually had the temperament of a large puppy, loveable and gentle.

Three weeks later the _Enterprise_ was leaving orbit from around the planet Illyas, its crew was well rested and ready for whatever was coming towards them. Although that something was not at all what they would suspect.

Emily strolled onto the bridge, wearing an usual piece of jewelry that was noticed right off the bat!

Miedici screamed a shrill, high-pitched scream, causing everyone on the bridge to jump nearly a foot in the area. Will saw what she screamed at and laughed heartily, Data looked at it and cocked his head to the side, confused, Worf snarled at it, Ensign Crusher and Geordi also laughed, Dr. Crusher gasped, Piccard scowled.  
"What is that and what is it doing on my bridge?" He boomed. "Get that thing off!"

"But Captain, he's harmless," Emily said, stroked the rather large spiked lizard the sat on top of her shoulder. "He eats bugs, so if any bugs fly into here then he will eat them for us!" She ignored his order and sat down next to Will. "Will, this is Spike. Spike, this is Will." Will giggled. "Spike is a Illyian Spiked Lizard. Isn't he cute?"

"You will be the death of us all!" Piccard shook his head in disbelief.

"Get used to it, sir!" She said rather boldly. "I love my animals!"

Will chuckled. "I don't mind it one bit." He smiled over at Piccard. "It could be worse, she could've brought that Illyian bear cub with us!" Piccard scowled at him.

"Set a course for the Triangular System," Piccard said with a rather irritated voice.

"Course laid in sir."

"Engage."

End of Episode 1: Welcome to the Enterprise


End file.
